US President Donald Trump announced that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon will speak Thursday, as Washington is pushing to ease hostilities between the two nations, following the first round of direct talks between Jerusalem and Beirut in decades on Tuesday.
“Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon,” Trump said late Wednesday on his Truth Social platform, apparently referring to the meeting held in Washington the day before, amid the US’ bid to forward Thursday’s planned discussion.
Though he did not mention the Thursday meeting’s participants or give details, he wrote “It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow. Nice!”
Israeli Army Radio, also known as GLZ Radio, said Thursday that, “Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel confirmed in an interview that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.”
GLZ Radio, quoted Gamliel as saying, “I hope that this move will ultimately lead to prosperity and flourishing for Lebanon as a country. This is a move that was conceived over time.”
A senior Trump administration official said earlier that while Trump would “welcome” an end to hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, he nonetheless stressed that any such outcome isn’t part of talks between Washington and Tehran.
Iran has been heavily critical of the US stance, having called Israel’s ongoing attacks against Hezbollah in south Lebanon a “grave violation” of the ongoing fragile two-week ceasefire between Tehran and Washington.
The US has sided with Israel’s rhetoric over the topic of Lebanon, noting that its attacks against Hezbollah were never a part of the ceasefire deal, which Tehran has disagreed with.
However, despite the situation’s volatility, the ceasefire has continued to hold while the IDF has continued its attacks against the Iran-funded group, though they have nonetheless reduced in intensity.
Lebanon was pulled into the West Asian war on March 2 after Hezbollah attacked Israel, leading to a heavy IDF assault.
Since its attacks in the country, over 2,000 people in Lebanon have been killed, according to health officials, and an additional 7,000 people injured, while one million people have been displaced due to the IDF’s heavy bombings in southern Lebanon.
